Bjorkus uses his crouched position to push up, for a brief moment completely lifting the Aasimar off the ground and moving forward. The Aasimar looks in stunned silence for a moment, then roars his denial and throws his weight down, digging his heels into the ground.
I assume we have guys nearer to the catapult than the renegade dwarf is. If there are, Toramin will shout, "Keep him away from the catapult!"
In either case, Toramin will charge and bop him again to prevent him from wrecking the machine.
Lindale leaps to assist Toramin. Destroying the machine wouldn't do. He runs towards the enemy dwarf and attacks.
Gabriel grimaces as the man does the honorable thing, knowing full well that it would cost them more lives if he succeeded. Instead of joining in on the attack he keeps his sword leveled on the other prisoners, wary of any of them trying to help the head engineer.
"Gabriel, could you see that engineer secured, and make sure he doesn't die." Toramin doesn't sound particularly upset. There was honor in his actions, but I must do the duty appointed to me by the clan elders. This was not his fight anymore than it was mine. I hope that he was doing his.
Toramin will then use the catapult to sling some bombs at the most strategic locations? Is there any chance of opening up a hole in the wall or impeding the ability of the defender to defend?
Carrying the bucket as fast as he can without splashing it, Psotheos moves to be adjacent to the aasimar. He fears throwing it may also injury some of the group, but at this point they don’t have many options.
Gabriel nods and rushes to the engineers side. He had managed to ask Geoffrey a few questions and tips for tending to injuries, and unlike the night before he handles this particular dwarf and his injuries with some semblance of skill. And despite his earlier threat, he does not throw the dwarf off the side of the wall.
Gabriel, once the dwarf was stabilized, rushes over to the side of the towers wall and calls down to the soldiers they had below. "Everyone get over here and get ready! We need this position secured! We're turning they're own weapons against them!" He raises his sword into the air to enunciate the victory, then turns to the dwarf and the drow. "You two do what you can to get that working as quickly as possible. I'm heading down below. Toramin, wait until I give the signal before you start unloading. We need the building secure if they try to retaliate." He rushes over to the ladder and down to prepare the soldiers. "We can't board up that door, but we can make them pay every time they try to get into it. We're in enemy territory people. I fully except retaliation the minute they realize what they're doing, but if we can hold out long enough reinforcements will get here! This wall is falling fast. Lets FINISH IT!"
He glances to each soldier, then down to the mess on the ground that had once been the soldier that had broken down the door. "We've lost good men, and I'm not going to lie, we might lose more." His eyes fill with determination as they sweep back over to those still among the living. He grips his sword tightly and raises it, "But I swear, I will do everything in my power to make sure each and everyone of you goes home. I am fighting by your side while the others turn our enemies weapons against them. Stay together and fight smart. We've got two choke points that are perfect for keeping their numbers in check. Archers, I want you up top. Stay low and make sure to choose your shots carefully. Every grunt we don't have to fight is one less chance for a sword to our guts, but an officer down means their forces are that much more confused. And be careful. They may have their own bows."
Gabriel continues to give orders. With the archers up the ladder, he rallies the heavies. If there were only three soldiers left after the arches went up stairs, he would divide them up. Two at one door (preferably both heavies) and he and the remaining soldier at the other door. He would take the broken one, which would be that much harder to defend. "We can do this men. This battle, this war is almost over."
He is about to call out to Toramin that they were ready when an idea occurs to him. He grimaces at the thought, but quickly reaches for one of the crates that the dwarf had identified as carrying bombs and very carefully brings it over to his door. He secures it against the wall, then nods and yells out, "TORAMIN, WE'RE READY!"
"What do you need me to do?" Lindale says to Toramin offering his help.
In either case, Toramin will load and fire one of the fire bombs at the closest catapult, and continue to attempt to take out all enemy catapults in range.
"One of the engineers, probably the dwarf has a spyglass. Someone fetch it for me. I don't want to hit our own troops."
Seeing the half-minotaur move the man and look towards the lava got Dalton on the same page. Surely that will do him in! He prepared the familiar motions of his earth movement, ready to activate the spell at a flick of his wrist - once Bjorkus moved/threw the antipaladin, that was.
Geoffrey sees what Bjorkus is doing and cries to the remaining soldiers "Help him, drive the bastard back!" The soldiers, given new hope, rush behind Bjorkus. One of them grabs the Aasimars arm and tries to pin it against his body while the other gets behind Bjorkus and helps with the pushing. With their help Bjorkus manages to let go another burst of strength and shove him back a few more feet, but then the antipaladin breaks his arm out and backhands the soldier that was holding it. He gets his feet set and brings a dark, glowing hand next to Bjorkus's face "Now we're going to see what your bones look like!" He grabs Bjorkus and you begin to feel your flesh grow alive and try to tear off your body, an extremely painful and intrusive process. His eyes gleam, but then he pauses and looks confused. He looks down, seeing the magma has reached out and is pooling around his feet. He screams, casting around for the wizard. And then Bjorkus spits out some blood, recovering from the shock of his own flesh betraying him. He thrusts upward and shoulder checks the Aasimar, throwing him into the stream of magma. You get to watch the interesting sight of the magma burning away flesh, hair, and bone only for it to regrow back a moment later. One moment half his face is gone and a skeleton is staring at you, the next moment you can see his half melted ribcage. He tries to get up and the soldiers stare in awe as the Aasimar continues to defy death. Bjokrus snorts and takes his greataxe, pinning him farther down into the stream. Before the struggle can continue any further, Arjax runs over and throws a bucket of the freezing liquid over the downed Aasimar. Suddenly the pool of magma solidifies into rock, flash freezing from the point of contact outwards until he is completely covered, axe still buried in his chest and nothing but his head outside the rock prison. The steady trickle of magma remains, slowly burning away his undying body. Every bodies heart rate slows as they finally realize the fight is over. The Aasimar takes a moment to struggle, but he can barely move his head and is having no apparent effect on the rock surrounding him.
Bjorkus gives a congratulatory nod to Dalton, Arjax, and the soldiers. If that didn't kill the bastard, he sure as hell would be wishing he was dead. The bull gives an involuntary shudder at the memory of the anti-paladin's corrupting touch before returning his attention to the obstacle still blocking his path.
"You still wanna try to use the lava to melt the wall?" he asks the pudgy elf.
Bjorkus groans in pain and as more of his prized fur is burned away. Once the work is done, the half-minotaur needs a moment to catch his breath. Sweating from the heat and the effort, the hulking bull leans heavily on the tunnel wall as the soldiers squeeze past him. He breathes easier after Geoffrey’s healing touch mends his seared flesh, again.
”What now?” Bjorkus rumbles at the colonel as he hefts his new axe in hand.
Geoffrey rubs at his wound. "We escort the dwarfs to the wall and have them open it. Our troops will storm in and take what remains of the outer city. We will establish a base of operations within the city in preparation to break the inner wall, which shouldn't be as hard as the outer wall is."
Bjorkus snorts and nods in understanding. ”You think they have many more like that thing back there?” he asks with a gesture at the trapped immortal aasimar.
”That wound botherin’ you?”
He frowns. "An Aasimar antipaladin, having another one of those I very much doubt. But this undying...I've never seen anything like it." He rubs at the wound again. "I can't fight well, that's what kills me."
Bjorkus snorts and nods. ”Well if we get into another scrap and you need to get involved, wait for me. I’ve got a trick that’ll take the edge off. We might not be able to heal that wound but I can help you ignore the pain.”
As the dwarven engineers filter into the chamber, Psotheos watches them with mixed emotions. The king needs to lose, but he hates see any damage to the capital, any loss of life to his countrymen.
He approaches the aasimar, bowing respectfully. ”I know nothing I say can frighten that infernal heart of yours. Any threats I make are worthless. Still I would like to ask: which family are you in league with? You can’t be the only defense here. Have the sewers been set with traps?” He knows the anti-paladin may lie, but he still wants to ask.
The Aasimars lip curls. "Infernal heart. A little off." He grimaces, apparently trying to shift his position but just ends up swearing and looking back up at Arjax. He stares at him for a time, then tilts his head. "You know what, fine. I have nothing else to lose. I'll make you a deal. Take a dagger and plant it in my shoulder. Hot air is building up inside me and keeps escaping through my mouth and eyes, I want it to escape somewhere else." He looks up at you, head cocked inquisitively to see what you do next.
"Dear me, that was a close shave! Give me a moment to catch my breath before we exit." Truth be told, this was one of the few times Dalton had been involved in something pseudophysical and had not needed to stop for breath, but he did want to take in the whole situation. Cold flows? Immortality? Wars seem to be a treasure trove of anomolies!... As did the books in the boxes. Taking a moment to rifle through them, he looked for any interesting titles while the lordling asked his questions.
Legacy of Argent, which recounts a great silver dragons account of the shaping of the land, a voluminous text.
The casters complete compilation of earth, an encyclopedia of everything there is to know about every kind of rock and dirt. For most a boring read, but it catches your eye.
Roads of Numiä, an ancient story of two lovers lost in the vast wilderness. In addition to being a well known story but very rare book. Also interesting is all of the information on the southern forests.
What's the weight & volume of all 3?
Legacy of Argent about average width and height, but fairly thick. Maybe about 600 pages.
The encyclopedia is a massive volume the size of two textbooks back to back.
Roads of Numia is about 2/3 the size of the first one.
After taking a few minutes to peruse the books, Dalton makes off with 3 of them. Lugging them over to Geoffrey, he drops them on to the still-present disk. Such a useful evocation! Moreover, the perfectly smooth surface meant no viscosity; the disk was dry. "Colonel, I know the men have been through a lot here. I could probably carry one on this platform for a few hours or so; might make the trek lighter on them." Not generally the type to pity others, Dalton did feel sorry for the troops. Poor boys saw some grizzly action.
The young noble tilts his head as well and studies the anti-paladin, clearly uneasy dealing with this being.
”No doubt you will find my decision displeasing if you hope to use my inexperience against me. Give me a moment,” Psotheos says. He walks over to Geoffrey. ”Colonel, the aasimar requests we stick a dagger in his shoulder to release excess heat. In exchange he’ll answer questions. Perhaps even truthfully I imagine. How dangerous do you think this idea is?”
Geoffrey looks at you for a moment, then asks for you to state it once more. "I can't see how stabbing a trapped man would help him at all. I highly doubt anything he says is truthful though, they practically lie on principal."
"I say we leave 'im", Bjorkus rumbles. "We gotta job to do and he's only gunna try to trick us again."
"How long're those engineers gunna take?"
Psotheos nods at the counsel from the Colonel. ”That’s what I thought. I hoped I could tease the truth from his lies, but it’s better I leave those knots alone.”
He returns to the aasimar. ”You probably heard my response to the Colonel. I do not want to hear your lies. In a short amount of time I will learn the truth about what has been happening to my homeland while I’ve been held prisoner.” He bows again as a sign of respect and leaves.
Psotheos asks Colonel Geoffrey, ”What is the next part of your plan?”
The Aasimar laughs, then coughs and spits out a small amount of magma. "Yes, because I would gain so much by lying right now. I would much rather spite those that put me in this position by helping you. You know there's a method to my madness. And oh, the secrets I know. But go, I wouldn't want to bother you with the small talk of how the entire city is going to be cleansed in the next twenty four hours. Nope, just go on in."
Psotheos balls his fists as he walks away. The emotions are clear on his face as they parade: anger, fear, hopelessness, and unease. He becomes pallid and takes a few unsteady steps.
”Please, Colonel Geoffrey, let us leave. I don’t want to hear what he says. This is tormenting.” He runs his shaking hands through his hair.
Geoffrey holds up his hand for a moment and gives some last instructions to one of the dwarfs, then turns to Arjax. "Yes, I've heard enough from him. I have already arranged a detail to guard the area. Let's get moving."
The group makes their way to the wall, Geoffrey beaming up as he sees his soldiers are already holding parts of it. Your group gets reinforced with fresh soldiers and you escort the saboteurs to the wall, where they spend a moment looking at the gate and the surrounding stone. The head dwarf looks annoyed at something, and finally barks something in dwarven to the others. They look around anxiously, and a few of them take out gloves and some sealed containers. They begin scooping some sort of gel out of the containers (which they treat with the utmost respect) and begin placing it carefully on the edges of the gates. Geoffrey frowns at them, but says nothing. Eventually they call to take cover, and blow the gel. Looking at the aftermath is surprising; There's no mass destruction like what was expected. The gel neatly blew through the edges of the gate and barely damaged the surrounded stone. The army cheers as the gate falls in, but Geoffrey simply glances at the anxious dwarves and begins marching on.
With control of a few siege weapons (and apparently a very brave and daring shock force destroying other siege weapons with a catapult they commandeered) and the wall falling, it takes less than an hour for the forces of Andril to exert complete control over the outer wall and about a third of the city. Any forces left outside the inner wall are dispatched of or captured (Geoffrey being very adamant about giving any man quarter who asks for it). The sun is past its' high point and the men rest their weary bodies, glancing up with new hope and vigor at the smaller, shorter wall they need to siege.
Our party members are dispatched with other large patrols, the only skirmishes they get into are so outmatched they hardly break a sweat. Eventually they are summoned to meet with Geoffrey, who has set up his headquarters in a large pub called The Quicksilver Coin. He's looking at a map the same shape of the city, but showing various tunnels underground, although inside the inner wall is completely blank (despite the outer tunnels showing several clear entrances to the inner city). As you enter he nods at one of his officers, then stands up and walks over to you all, grinning from ear to ear. "You three! I have hardly heard a more marvelous job done by the vanguard. Taking over a siege weapon and destroying others with it. Still nobody knows your name but you're becoming famous! And I never got a chance to properly thank you three for the quick thinking and work down there. No doubt we all would have perished without your help." He looks at Arjax and Bjorkus "I have full trust in you now, more so than even some of my personal guard." He takes in everybody. "And so I have one more job for you all. As you can see on the table there, we have discovered a map of the underground. Fairly simple, a symmetric network that is easy to navigate. However the inner city is unmapped. I want you six to go down there as a scout and shock troop. Your main objective is to get inside and see if there's a way to open the gate without blowing it up. Secondary objectives include mapping out the inner city and bringing any other intel about their underground and forces." He gets a bit more serious "This is a very dangerous job. I'm sending you into uncharted, unpredictable territory. Above all else, do not die." He takes a look around. "Truth be told, you're kind of an experiment. I want to see what the value of having small, elite shock forces is. If you succeed, you may have more opportunity in your life than you have ever had before." He straitens up. "So I'm counting on you to have your own judgement. I'm giving you broad goals, but you are allowed to deviate how you see fit. Get the gates open if you, gather any relevant intel, and DO. NOT. DIE. Is that understood?" He smiles and glances around. "Also, talk to Simon before you leave."
"I'm not really big on subtelty", Bjorkus rumbles. "I'll tag along and keep folks from dyin'. You expect a lot of resistance down there?"
The bull fidgets in his chaffing armor as he waits for an answer. He wasn't used to taking orders, especially from a paladin, but he had to admit - Geoffrey had a way of getting people to give their all.
"Any reason we can't scale the walls like they did a few hours ago?"
Gabriel and his force down below encounter little resistance holding the tower, as the wall was quickly teeming with their own forces the length of it and making it that much harder for the enemy to mount a counter attack where it would be most effective. Still he does not let the soldiers grow relaxed, and every time a force arrives he gives those he can the chance to surrender, swearing they would not be killed if they did so. Usually he had to give this choice that the top of his lungs but a couple took it from each wave.
In the end, when they climbed down into the city to meet with the officers for orders, Gabriel takes a moment to speak with each of the men and women that had gone up the wall with them. He thanks them for a job well done, apologizes to them for the losses they have taken, and offers a quick prayer for them to Iomedae, Shelyn and Abadar. That they may survive this battle and return to their loved ones. He had no more power within him to offer, but the four he had healed were still standing, and that gave Gabriel hope. He had patched up what he could as well, but lacking proper supplies there was only so much the tiefling could do. He watches them go with a small amount of pride in his heart at how they fared as well. Not for himself, but for them. Then he turns to find an officer and receive more orders.
The patrol that follows, with over a dozen soldiers, was both familiar and welcome. They had done such sweeps through cities before, and as always they did their best to simply make a group surrender without any causalities. Gabriel was at the helm and usually the one asking them to lay down their arms. This was surprising to him, since he was not an officer, and it was apparently surprising to the lieutenant who was about to reprimand him the first time he spoke out of turn. Until, one and all, the first enemy group they had encountered did so. Results speak loudly, and Gabriel saw the lieutenant think things through quickly.
Gabriel failed to notice the fact that the more people he fought beside, the less people there were that looked at him like a monster. Some still saw the odd tail swaying beside him, the mismatched rams horns mounting the sides of each head, or even the single pointed ear. But others didn't. Others were accepting his oddities as just that and looking at him now with respect. Gabriel didn't notice either group. He was so used to being looked down on that he had taken to ignoring the odd looks he received, and as usual, when he was fighting or planning he was in his own thoughts.
'Could I have done better?' He wondered to himself. They had lost men on the approach, but barely any after word. That approach had been raining siege fire and it was only Toramin's knowledge that had kept more from being lost. It was Lindale with his unusual skills who had not only lifted Toramin onto the wall but freed Gabriel and then struck the killing blow. Gabriel had... 'I healed those soldiers. I fought along side them. I helped rally them.'
No, he couldn't have done better. He had done the best he could. His tail twitched eagerly as he came to this realization, startling the messenger that came up behind him. He turns around and sees a man Geoffrey tended to use to deliver messages and new before the man had spoken that he was being summoned. Gabriel reaches up and removes his helmet, clicking it onto the belt that carried his sword. His curly blond tresses tumble down his shoulders as he does, surprising the messenger further. Everyone expected him to have lots of red and demonic features when they saw the horns and tail. "Sir Geoffrey wants me?" The man nods numbly and Gabriel chuckles, then walks on past him.
He arrived at the inn he was told, by an individual on the way since he had forgotten to ask the messenger, was holed up in. The place pretty warm and sturdy. 'The Quicksilver Coin? I wonder how it got its name.' Gabriel opens the door and is surprised to see the others already gathered. He quickly takes his place by Geoffrey and Toramin. The praise that follows wasn't directed at him specifically, but all the same the tiefling's tail twitched irritably behind him. The last thing he wanted to be was famous. The orders, however, immediately gave something to latch onto. He wondered the same thing Bjorkus did, or why they simply couldn't blow the inner gate. 'Such a thing wouldn't be impossible to repair before they left would it? Did magic protect the thing?
He glances up at Geoffrey near the end, his eyes shining and his now exposed face thoughtful. "We'll need a way to make a map of our own that's simple to carry and stow so that no one is left fumbling when we're attacked and so we don't have to leave a trail behind to find our way out. We'll also need a series of controlled light sources with similar properties, maybe hooded lanterns we can hook to our belts, for the same reason, since only a couple of us can see in the dark and its possible not every spot will be lit." At least one that he knew of. He wasn't sure about elves or Mantaur though. "Lastly, we'll need a way to relay messages back to the army in case we uncover anything urgent, which is probably the most difficult thing to manage..."
He blinks when he realizes a couple of the people in the tent were staring at him and he trails off into silence. They knew him as a quiet daydreamer, and hadn't been there last night when he had finally put his training under Geoffrey to the test. He glanced away from them and tried to focus on Sir Geoffrey, but only spoke again to apologize. "Sorry for speaking out of turn sir." He saw mild amusement or satisfaction in the eyes of a couple people at the tiefling 'recognizing his own place' but ignored it. A couple were only thinking of military rank after all. The manataur didn't receive half the looks he did though for speaking and Gabriel wondered why that was. Confidence?
"Taking the outer wall was easier than we thought it would be. It was undermanned. Once we got a foothold we easily swept through. I have a suspicious they have their main body inside the inner wall for a last stand. While it would be a simple matter to simply starve them out or just bombard the inner wall until their losses were so great they surrendered. However, we have neither the time nor the wish for the destruction that is the effect of both of these. So I'm going to try being an idealist and see if I can get the gates open from the inside. Short time, smaller loss of life, and damn if it isn't a good show of power." He chuckles and puts a hand on Bjorkus's shoulder. "More of a shock and awe team than anything. And I have no idea of the amount of resistance, but they are aware of the potential opening to their inner city and probably have some sort of plan to defend it." He shakes his head at Gabriel. "What I'm told is there are maps throughout the tunnels. Workers often go down there as well as civilians and they don't want anybody getting lost. I'm told it's rather easy to navigate."
"Colonel Geoffrey, I think the lad may have a point. Were it my hold that was being invaded, I would remove the signs or put up misleading ones. One may only have as much preparation as one has foresight. How much foresight do you imagine Nuro possesses? It would not hurt us to have a way to create our own map, nor would it go amiss if we had some way to contact you or your duly appointed representative if vital information needs to be conveyed. On a different point, I'm honored to be included in this strike force. Your faith in me is a great gift. Could you appoint someone to lead this squad? Discipline is our greatest bulwark against chaos during war. If someone were to disobey orders he would endanger the lives of everyone on the squad, even if it were not to his intention."
Toramin is not staring at Lindale when he says this last part, but he is also not looking at him either.
"An intelligent insight, but the maps are carved into the stone. I'd be rather impressed if they changed that this quickly. Still, magic makes things tricky. This is a map before the assault, you can have it if you desire. No leader for now, you can all consider yourself the same rank in this squad. And I will have Tiasar contact you every hour for an update. He'll speak you you, Dalton"
Toramin will blink as if Colonel Geoffery just said piss tastes like delicious, delicious candy, but he nods his head and accepts the judgment of his superior.
Dalton took some time to briefly survey the city they now occupied before Geoffrey called on him. I bet there's a fair bit of coin and fine ware left behind... Thievery wasn't really Dalton's calling, but was stealing actually stealing in war? The questions he didn't have answers to would need to be answered at a later time...
*******
Quicksilver Coin, indeed! It would be quite a relic if he could get one of those, but Dalton's attention was well-held by Geoffrey's new direction. "I think I can handle the light and mark our way, but writing a map on the go would be most cumbersome." Dalton was no diviner; his ability to scribe while walking would do him more harm than most acrobatics.
"Where should we start?" Bjorkus says as he studies the offered map. "It's a big city. They could have forces hidden anywhere."
The bull pauses to recall a sahuagin attack his crew had suffered at a neutral port. There'd been casualties, a lot. He knew better than to assume the worst was behind them. Danger could be anywhere, especially this deep in hostile territory.
"Here." He points to a tunnel that dead ends at the northwestern wall of the inner city. "It's the last place they would expect an attack since we're on their southern flanks and the water to their east makes for another vulnerability. Hopefully we can draw attention away from you all and make less resistance." He draws a line around the western edge. "Then make your way to the gate, see how it works. Ideally I would like you to take over the controls and get it open from the inside."
Gabriel blinks at Toramin's request for a leader. They had handled things quite well on the wall and that hadn't been with any officer. Granted there were more of them now, but they all had the same goal. He turns his attention back to the map, then nods. They had a couple worries to deal with that might stem from above, but while all were possible they were also unlikely with a siege bearing down on them. That meant they'd be dealing with fights in tighter confines below ground, and that meant the group would be harder to swarm. 'How does one take a gate that will be so heavily defended...? The enemy couldn't swarm the underground without undermining the defense on the walls, but our own army can't risk doing so either without them simply flooding the tunnels and taking out a large portion of our force. Maybe one of the tunnels runs near the gate and we can undermine them from underground by collapsing the tunnel? Or maybe we can just sneak inside and open it at the gatehouse?'
Both options seemed difficult, but Gabriel thought he was ready, and other opportunities might present themselves. Gabriel couldn't think of any other preparations they might make, not unless they were allowed a demolitions team or something. "Will we be waiting for a signal for your distraction or will you time it with our departure from the camp?"
At Gabriel's question, Toramin will request, "If there is time, I would like an hour to devote to prayer and the writing of letters. I have a duty to inform the families of those who were lost under Gabriel and my command this morning. Not all duties are equal, but I must do them all to the best of my ability. Despite Colonel Geoffrey's command to survive, there are no certainties in times of war. If die I must, I would prefer to go to Torag having discharged all my duties."
"I will have Tiasar update me on your progress and time my attack accordingly. You need not worry about timing anything. Of course Toramin, you won't be leaving for nearly an hour and a half anyways."
"Good. In that case we'll have time for me to add something to the letters as well." He glances at the others to see if they have any questions, then stands straight again and salutes Geoffrey. "If you'll excuse me, Sir, I'm going to go speak to Simon, then find a place to rest for a little while and prepare for what comes next."